EconAir

INTRODUCTION This post and the next is on the topic of economic development and its contribution to economic growth.   Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution more than 200 years ago, this is the central economic dynamic.    The following are factors that led to American economic development, many in place  before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.   The United States, more than any other country, was positioned to take advantage of the new technology and ideas that were the basis of the Industrial Revolution.   The following is an outline of those factors.   For the full story of the early decades of America's Industrial Revolution, see Engines of Change and some of the excellent histories written about America after the Revolution. FACTORS IN AMERICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH The usual narrative centers on the inventors and entrepreneurs who developed and commercialized new production and transportation technology and tech

“The age is running mad after innovation.” Samuel Johnson In the Beginning Why study economic theory and analysis, read economic history, and make economic forecasts? The short answer is because of the Industrial Revolution and the attempt to understand its dynamics and structure. Economics is an attempt to understand the material world we live in, the environment created by the Industrial Revolution. THE BEGINNING OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The Industrial Revolution began in England in the late 1700s. It then spread to America  and western European countries. This post will summarize its origins in England and describe the early decades of the Industrial Revolution in America. The Industrial Revolution was a radical break in history. But in England, many of the preconditions were already in place, as can be seen by the history of the Wedgwood company. The revolutionary generation that first adopted steam engines saw the f

The Rocket - Famous Steam Locomotive England , more than any country, started the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s.   And for over 150 years, England continued to discover new products and technologies.   Yet England eventually fell behind the United States and Germany in industrial technology, production efficiency, and economic growth.   What happened? The seeds of England ’s relative economic decline were there right at the beginning. Producing cotton cloth became England's great industry in the 19th Century.   But m illwrights, mechanics with specialized knowledge of how to build wool and cotton mills and their machinery, felt frustrated because they seldom became part owners and couldn’t find financing to start their own mills.   Some illegally emigrated to the United States and France .   Much of the early American textile mill technology was due to English immigrants.   The first cotton spinning mills were designed by an English millwright financ

I reread Alice in Wonderland last year. I’ve been reading a lot of weird books in the last two years but Alice in Wonderland is the weirdest. It’s like a children’s story written by Franz Kafka. The book and its images continue to resonate. I’ll skip the cheap shot of recalling the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party because a lot of recent commentators have already used it. Also, there’s a serious idea in game theory called the Red Queen Effect, even a whole book about it by Matt Ridley. (Any book by Matt Ridley is recommended.) But the time Alice in Wonderland really resonated was the 1960s. The following are the lyrics from the group and the song that was virtually the anthem of the Berkeley/San Francisco counterculture. It was written by the group’s lead singer, Gracie Slick. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don't do anything at all Go ask Alice When she's ten